Toxoplasmosis Gondii: Single-Celled Disease

This mode of transmission, like malaria, can leave the host deadly sick. Its a cycle, with the parasite in the host, a mosquito will carry the blood with the parasite and inject it into a different host.

Bilharzia is a disease caused by freshwater parasitic worms called flukes in certain tropical and subtropical countries. The fresh water becomes contaminated by infected animal or human urine or feces. The parasite goes in through the skin and enters the bloodstream and moves to the liver, intestine, and other organs. It is the third most devastating tropical disease in the world. More than 207 people, 85% of who live in Africa are infected and an estimated 700 million people are at risk of infection.

7. The Monsters inside of me video clip makes the same assertion as the CDC website with regard to spread of Toxoplasmosis. They both regard cat fecal ingestion as being the main way the parasite is transmitted to humans. The website you just visited however disagrees. What route does it assert as being the major transmission route? Does it offer any supporting evidence?

Since the feline species are the only recognized host of T. gondii, the parasite must pass through the feline digestive system in order to complete its life cycle and reproduce (NOAA, 2013). The parasite multiplies within the feline digestive tract, releasing the parasitic eggs through the cat’s feces (NOAA, 2013). The parasitic eggs infect other non-feline species, including mice and birds, which is a common source of transmission to uninfected cats (NOAA, 2013). Rainfall can wash the cat feces into the ocean where the parasitic eggs remain viable for up to two years (NOAA,

Blastocystis hominis (B hominis) is a common parasitic organism found throughout the world. An infection with B hominis is called blastocystosis. The parasite lives in your large intestine and can be found in stool. It can remain in the body for weeks, months, or years. It is not known whether the parasite B hominis causes any symptoms in humans or if the associated symptoms may be caused by infection with other parasitic organisms, bacteria, or viruses. Often, B hominis is found along with other organisms that are more likely to be the cause of your symptoms.

Now, the easiest way to determine if you have been affected, is to take a blood sample and run it under a UV black light, and if there are little white specs, you’ve got XPTL. That’s the main reason it is called a parasitic disease, there is no actual

they require a carbon source to thrive. The nutrient that is taken in by the fungi is

Once the immune system reacts to the parasitic egg the victim’s skin becomes inflamed causing extreme itching. This severe itching has been known to cause some to commit suicide. This migration causes the once normal human skin to become thick and depigmented resembling and feeling like that of an elephants (pachyderm) skin. Figure 5 is a picture from the Neglected Tropical Disease website (2010) which shows “a Ugandan man suffering from [river blindness]. [The picture] shows the inflammation and de-pigmentation the condition is

As it was said before this bacterium usually infects rodents and not humans and that is why this kind of infectious fever is classified as an enzootic disease, which means that it tends to affect a determined specie and in this case it tends to spread among rodents via infected fleas.

The therapy of choice for toxoplasmosis consists of the combination of pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and leucovorin. Pyrimethamine, a dihydrofolate inhibitor, is the primary anti-toxoplasmosis agent and is able to penetrate the blood brain barrier. Sulfadiazine is a folic acid synthesis inhibitor that is a designated orphan product for synergistic use with pyrimethamine to treat toxoplasmosis. For patients with a documented sulfa allergy, clindamycin and atovaquone may be used as alternative therapeutic agents; however, because sulfadiazine is so integral to the success of toxoplasmosis treatment, it is recommended that clinicians attempt sulfa desensitization in these patients. Leucovorin, or folinic acid, reduces the risk of developing pyrimethamine toxicities such as nausea, rash, and bone marrow suppression. Increasing the leucovorin dose may also reverse pyrimethamine toxicities in some cases. Folic acid should not be used as a substitute for leucovorin in toxoplasmosis treatment.

West African trypanosomiasis, also called Gambian sleeping sickness, is a long-lasting (chronic) infection. The infection spreads over time to affect the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). Without treatment it is life-threatening.

Psittacosis is an uncommon infectious disease that is also known as avian chlamydiosis and orinthosis. It is caused by a bacteria called Chlamydia psittaci. It is typically contracted when a person has exposure to an affected bird. Birds are the primary carriers of this zoonotic disease. These birds include parrots, cockatiel, parakeets, and other pet birds. Psittacosis usually affects the lungs and causes pneumonia. Other effects of the disease may include fever, muscle pain, headaches, dry cough (National Organization for Rare Disorders).

One of the terrible diseases that people from around the world often had to face was the disease called Rubella. Rubella is a contagious viral infection that often affects children and young adults (Rubella, March 2017). The disease often comes with symptoms such as a rash, fever, nausea, and mild conjunctivitis. This disease can be spread from person to person by airborne droplets when a infected person sneezes or coughs (Rubella, March 2017). The most dreadful part of this disease however, is the effect it can have on pregnant women. When a woman is infected with the rubella virus in the early stages of her pregnancy, she has a 90% chance of passing on the virus to her unborn fetus which can cause a miscarriage, stillbirth or cause the child to be born with severe birth defects (Rubella, March 2017). Another particularly terrible and deadly disease is called the measles. The measles is a highly contagious and serious disease caused by a virus. This disease can be spread through coughing, sneezing and close or direct contact with those who are

haemofelis primarily occurs through the bites of arthropods such as ticks and fleas, or through blood transfusions that use the blood of an infected cat (Peteducation.com). M. haemofelis bacterium can also be passed from queen to kitten and through direct contact between fighting cats; as the majority of cases occur in male cats, feral cats or cats that roam, and cats that are under six years of age (Pededucation.com). These bacterium cannot be cultured in a clinic or in a research lab as they require a living host to survive (Marvistavet.com). Fortunately, they can easily be seen when a smear using a sample of an infected cat’s blood is stained and placed under a microscope; appearing as short chains of 3 to 6 small, darkly stained coccoid bodies attached to the cell membrane of erythrocytes (Merck Veterinary

The exact name of the species that infects humans has been amended from Pneumocystis carinii to Pneumocystis jirovecii in order to differentiate it from the species that infects and causes disease in rats. The name was given to honor Czech parasitologist Otto Jirovec who gave a substantial contribution in the research of this organism.